‘The Apprentice’ Movie: Sebastian Stan to Play Young Donald Trump
Emmy-nominated actor Sebastian Stan, best known for playing Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is set to play a young Donald Trump in The Apprentice, a new film from Cannes prize-winning director Ali Abbasi (Holy Spider).
As first reported by Deadline, Stan will star alongside Emmy winner Jeremy Strong (Succession) and Academy Award nominee Maria Bakalova (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3) in the upcoming feature, which will chronicle Trump’s efforts to build his real estate business in New York in the 1970s and 1980s.
Described as “an exploration of power and ambition, set in a world of corruption and deceit,” The Apprentice will also dig into the former President’s relationship with infamous attorney Roy Cohn, charting the origins of a major American dynasty. Production started earlier this week.
According to Deadline, Strong will play Cohn, while Bakalova will portray Trump’s first wife, Ivana.
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The screenplay was written by author Gabriel Sherman, who wrote the 2014 biography about Fox News Channel president Roger Ailes, The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News – and Divided a Country, which debuted at #9 on The New York Times Bestseller list. The book inspired Showtime’s miniseries The Loudest Voice, which starred Russell Crowe as Ailes.
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While most recognized for his role in the MCU, Stan has had several other memorable roles, most recently playing Robinhood Markets CEO Vladimir Tenev in Dumb Money. He also portrayed Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee opposite Lily James’ Pamela Anderson on Hulu‘s Pam & Tommy and Tonya Harding’s abusive spouse Jeff Gillooly in 2017’s I, Tonya.
Meanwhile, Strong is best known for his award-winning lead role in HBO‘s Succession, which wrapped up its fourth and final season earlier this year. His other recent credits include Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7, Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen, and James Gray’s Armageddon Time.
Bakalova is known for voicing Cosmo the Spacedog in 2023’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and 2022’s The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. She also starred in the films Bodies Bodies Bodies, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, The Bubble, and The Honeymoon.
